Golf swing practice device

ABSTRACT

An improved golf swing practice device is composed of a base frame, a guide hoop mounted on the base frame and having a trajectory on the same plane, a guide rail slidably mounted on the guide hoop, the guide rail being parallel to the plane that the guide hoop is positioned and having an extending direction substantially corresponding to the diametrical direction of the guide hoop, a slide member slidably mounted on the guide rail, and a training golf club having a distal end pivotably mounted on a rear end of the slide member to define an imaginary club head. Accordingly, the golfer can stand behind the guide hoop and hold the training golf club to perform swing actions. A position that the imaginary club head is positioned is controlled to move on a swing plane, such that the present invention effectively helps the golfer to perform swing actions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to golf, and more particularly,to a golf swing practice device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Although the golf swing action looks simple, it actually requires manynecessary standard swing postures to perform a standard accurate swingaction. If the golfer does not exactly comply with the standard swingpostures, the golfer will fail to have sufficient strength to hit thegolf ball and then the ball will be hit to travel astray from apredetermined direction. For example, the standard swing action includessteps of the address, the backswing, the downswing, the ball impact, thefollow-through, and the finish and keeps the trajectory of the golf clubhead moving on the same swing plane. Theoretically, the optimal swingplane is constructed by both of a connection line between the right orleft shoulder of the golfer and the hitting point and a target line. Ifthe golfer can swing the golf club to enable the club head to travelalong the same swing plane each time, the golfer's swing action is veryaccurate and stable to enable the ball to be hit to travel exactlytowards the target. On the contrary, if the golfer fails to comply withthe standard swing postures, the ball will be hit to travel inunexpected deviation or curvature.

However, the aforementioned requirement of the standard swing action istoo difficult to beginners. If none of coaches or experienced golfers isavailable to help the beginners to correct their swing actions, it isdifficult for the beginners to learn the accurate swing action on theirown without any assistance. Hence, numerous kinds of golf swing practicedevices for helping the golfers to learn the accurate swing action arecommercially available on current market.

An optimal golf swing practice device must meet four requirements asfollows.

1. The angle of the swing plane can be freely adjustable.

2. While performing the accurate swing action, the trajectory of thegolf club head will not depart from a predetermined swing plane.

3. The club head is freely movable on the predetermined swing plane. Inother words, the trajectory of the club head will be variable in shapeaccording to different golfers who have different body shapes, postures,and timing of bending wrists while keeping on the same swing plane.

4. Performing full swing practice is available.

If any of the swing practice devices does not meet aforementioned fourrequirements at the same time, those devices will not satisfy actualrequirement and the golfers will be misguided to perform incorrect swingpractice. However, currently commercially available golf swing practicedevices primarily having guide rails usually satisfy only one or two ofthe aforementioned requirements to cause obstructions and blind pointswhile practicing swing actions.

The currently commercially available golf swing practice devices thatthe guide rails are applied structurally include three types as follows.

1. The club is put on one single guide rail:

For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,330,192, 5,429,367, and 5,441,275disclosed such kind of the golf swing practice device. However, theswing practice devices fail to keep the club head moving on apredetermined swing plane because when the golfer performs the swingpractice, a fulcrum being defined on where the club shaft and the guiderail contact with each other, a point of application of force beingdefined on where the golfer holds the grip of the golf club, theinterrelationship between the golfer's arm and the guide rail keepschanging to enable the angle between the club shaft and the guide railto keep changing, such that the moving trajectory of the club head failsto keep on the predetermined swing plane.

2. The club is put between two guide rails:

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,251 disclosed such kind of golf swingpractice device, which includes a primary guide rail and a secondaryguide rail disposed in front of a low section of the primary guide railfor swinging the golf club through between the two guide rails. However,such type of swing practice device still fails to keep the club headmoving on the same swing plane.

3. A distal end of the club shaft is located on a circular guide rail:

Although such type of swing practice device can keep the club headmoving on the same swing plane, i.e. a plane defined by the circularguide rail, it forms a single fixed circular swing trajectory that doesnot satisfy the actual golf swing trajectory formed according todifferent golfers' body shapes, arm lengths, timing of bending arms.Briefly, such type of swing practice device fails to satisfy all kindsof golfers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an improvedgolf swing practice device that ensures that the trajectory of a golfclub head keeps on the same swing plane while the golfer swings the golfclub to enable the golfer to feel and learn more optimal and accurateswing postures and that satisfies the golfers of various body shapes.

The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide animproved golf swing practice device that allows different trajectory ofa golf club head while the club head remains on the same swing plane.

The foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by theimproved golf swing practice device that is composed of a base frame, aguide hoop, a guide rail, a slide member, and a training golf club. Theguide hoop is mounted on the base frame and the golfers can stand behindthe guide hoop to do swing practice. The trajectory of the guide hoop ispositioned on a simulated plane, which slopes to enable a top sidethereof facing forwards and upwards. The guide rail is slidably mountedon the guide hoop to slide along the trajectory of the guide hoop. Theguide rail has a simulated long axle parallel to the simulated planethat the guide hoop is positioned and extending towards a directionsubstantially corresponding to a diametrical direction of the guidehoop. The slide member is slidably mounted on the guide rail to slidealong the guide hoop and extends rearwards from the guide rail for adistance. The training golf club is provided with an end pivotablymounted on a rear end of the slide member and the other end provided forthe golfer's holding. An imaginary golf club head is positioned at wherethe training golf club is pivotably mounted on the slide member. Whenthe golfer swings the training golf club for practice, the imaginarygolf club head will be controlled to move on a plane parallel to theaforementioned simulated plane.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded view of the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line 5-5 indicated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along a line 6-6 indicated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention at work, showing that the trajectory of an imaginary golf clubhead;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention at work, showing the trajectory of the imaginary golf clubhead; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are elevational views of another preferred embodiments ofthe present invention, showing that a guide hoop has other shapes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a golf swing practice device 10 constructedaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is composedof a base frame 20 located on the ground, a guide hoop 30 mounted infront of the base frame 20, a guide rail 40 slidably mounted behind theguide hoop 30, a slide member 50 slidably mounted behind the guide rail40, a connector 60 pivotably connected to a rear end of the slide member50, and a training golf club 70 having a distal end connected with theconnector 60.

The base frame 20 is formed of a plurality of rod members connectedtogether and includes a square bottom support 21 having a long side(thereafter defined as a rear side) connected with an upright trapezoidback support 22. Three retractable rods 23 a, 23 b, and 23 c extendforwards respectively from midsections of a top side and left and rightsides of the back support 22. The retractable rod 23 a is shorter thaneach of the retractable rods 23 b and 23 c. Three support arms 24 a, 24b, and 24 c are pivotably connected respectively with front ends ofthree retractable rods 23 a, 23 b, and 23 c and extend towards thecenter of the guide hoop 30.

The guide hoop 30 is a continuous elliptical frame and is provided withtwo ends at a long axle thereof for being connected with distal ends ofthe two support arms 24 b and 24 c of the base frame 20, an end at ashort axle thereof provided for being connected with a distal end of thesupport arm 24 a of the base frame 20, and the other end at the shortaxle thereof provided for being spaced apart from the ground for apredetermined distance. In other words, the guide hoop 30 is supportedat a front side of the base frame 20, and a standing space 25 is definedbetween the guide hoop 30 and the back support 22 of the base frame 20for the golfer's standing inside with the back facing the back support22 to perform swing actions. The trajectory of the guide hoop 30 is onthe same plane, which refers to an elliptical plane defined by the guidehoop 30, and faces the standing space 25. In the meanwhile, theaforementioned plane slopes with a top side thereof facing upwards andforwards. For the golfer, the trajectory of the guide hoop 30substantially corresponds to that of an imaginary golf club head of thetraining golf club 70 while swing the training golf club 70. The lengthsof the three retractable rods 23 a, 23 b, and 23 c are adjustable tochange an angle of inclination of the guide hoop 30 to fit the golfer'sbody figure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the guide hoop 30 includes an I-shapedcross-section and two opposite channels 31 positioned respectively atinner and outer peripheries of the elliptical frame, i.e. two oppositesmooth sides thereof respectively face forwards and backwards. The threesupport arms 24 a, 24 b, and 24 c are connected to a front side of theguide hoop 30.

The guide rail 40 is an elongated frame-like bar having a cross-sectionof substantially square frame and includes a T-shaped channel 41, tworetaining portions 42, a hooking member 43, and a plurality of rollers45. The T-shaped channel 41 extends along a long axle of the guide rail40. The two retaining portions 42 are formed inside the T-shaped channel41 and respectively abut two ends of the guide rail 40. The hookingmember 43 is fixed on an end of a side of the guide rail 40 opposite toan opening of the T-shaped channel 41 and has two crank-like members 44symmetrical in shape. The two crank-like members 44 are positionedopposite to each other at a corresponding direction to the long axle ofthe guide rail 40, and are respectively in the shapes of two serialcurvature of right angle to define a T-shaped space between the twocrank-like members 44. The rollers 45 are pivotably mounted on a distalend of each crank-like member 44.

The guide rail 40 is connected to the guide hoop 30 by the hookingmember 43, as shown in FIG. 5, i.e. the guide rail 40 is positionedbehind the guide hoop 30 and the opening of the T-shaped channel 41faces backwards; namely, the hooking member 43 faces forwards, the otherside of the guide hoop 30 runs through the T-shaped space of the twocrank-like members 44, distal ends of the two crank-like members 44extend into the two channels 31 by engaging against inner peripheries ofthe two channels 31, and the rollers 45 engages against the channels 31,thereby preventing departure of the guide rail 40 from the guide hoop 30and causing the guide rail 40 to slidably move along the ellipticaltrajectory of the guide hoop 30. (Note: The three support arms 24 a, 24b, and 24 c are connected to the front side of the guide hoop 30 to keepa rear side of the guide hoop 30 and the channels 31 clear to cause nointerference with the slidable movement of the guide rail 40.)

The long axle of the guide rail 40 is parallel to the plane defined bythe guide hoop 30, as shown in FIG. 3, and the extending direction ofthe long axle of the guide rail 40 corresponds to the diametricaldirection of the guide hoop 30, as shown in FIG. 2. The guide rail 40has an end, which is defined as an external end, connected to the guidehoop 30 to keep the guide rail 40 positioned completely on theelliptical trajectory of the guide hoop 30.

Referring to FIGS. 4-6, the slide member 50 includes a head portion 51,a body portion 52 extending perpendicularly from a side of the headportion 51, and two parallel yokes 53 fixed to a distal end of the bodyportion 52. A plurality of rollers 54 are rotatably mounted on the headportion 5 1. The head portion 51 of the slide member 50 is received theT-shaped channel 41 of the guide rail 40 and engages against theT-shaped channel 41 by the rollers 54, and the body portion 52 extendsout of the opening of the T-shaped channel 41, such that the slidemember 50 can slidably move along the straight trajectory of the guiderail 40 and keep moving inside the T-shaped channel 41 without departurefrom the T-shaped channel 41 by the retaining portion 44. Referring toFIG. 3, the body portion 52 is perpendicular to the guide rail 40; whenthe guide rail 40 slidably moves down to a lowest point the trajectoryof the guide hoop 30, the distal end of the body portion 52, i.e. thetwo yokes 53, approaches the ground for a distance.

The connector 60 is annular in shape, mounted between the two yokes 53,and pivotably connected with the two yokes 54 on a diametrical axisthereof to pivot relatively to the slide member 50. The diametrical axisof the connector 60 is perpendicular to both of the body portion 52 ofthe slide member 50 and the guide rail 40, as shown in FIG. 6.

The training golf club 70 is a golf club without a golf club head at anend thereof coaxially connected to the annular connector 60 and has ahandle 71 disposed at the other end thereof provided for the golfer'sholding.

When the golf swing practice device 10 is operated, the golfer standsinside the standing space 25, facing the guide hoop 30 and against theback support 22 (Note: According to the golfer's body shape or the spacemodel of the present invention, the golfer's head or upper torso may beinvolved in the guide hoop 30), and then holds the training golf club 70by two hands to perform the swing actions. The present invention isstructurally bilaterally symmetrical so as to accommodate theright-handed and left-handed golfers at the same time.

The position tat the distal end of the training golf club 70 isconnected with the connector 60 is the imaginary golf club head;however, such position can be also designed like a golf club head toenhance the simulative reality of the swing practice. During the processof performing the swing practice, the golfer exerts a force on thehandle 70 to drive the slide member 50 to move, and then the slidemember 50 drives the guide rail 40 to slide on the guide hoop 30, andmeanwhile, the slide member 50 can slide on the guide rail 40. Referringto FIGS. 7 and 8, when the club 70 is positioned upright, the head(connector 60) is positioned relatively in proximity of the external endof the guide rail 40, such as the lowest point p1 and the highest pointp5. When the club 70 is positioned transversally, the head 60 ispositioned relatively on a position p3 in proximity of an internal endof the guide rail 40. As a whole, the trajectory of the head 60 issubstantially elliptical from an elevation view of FIG. 7. Thetrajectory of the head 60 keeps on a plane f1, i.e. the swing plane,from a side view of FIG. 8. The swing plane f1 is parallel to a plane f2defined by the guide hoop 30. The golfer can adjust the angle of theinclination of the guide hoop 30 or change the interrelationship betweenthe golfer and the guide hoop 30 to incur a swing plane fits the golfer.

As stated above, the golf swing practice device of the present inventioncan ensure the trajectory of the head to keep on the same plane toenable the golfer to feel and learn the optimal and most accurate swingaction.

Alternatively, the guide hoop can be otherwise shape of annular frame oreven discontinuous hoop. For example, in FIG. 9, the guide hoop 30′ is acontinuous circular frame; however, the trajectory of the guide hoop 30′is sloppy, such that the guide hoop 30′ is not a circular frame from anelevation view. Referring to FIG. 10, the guide hoop 30″ issubstantially elliptical with a long transversal axle and includes twoarched sections 32, which are formed at a top bilateral side thereof andwhich curvature is not identical to the whole guide hoop 30. Thetrajectory of the guide hoop 30′ substantially corresponds to that ofthe head while performing a general swing action.

1. A golf swing practice device comprising: a base frame; a guide hoopmounted on said base frame, a standing space being defined at a rearside of said guide hoop for the golfer's standing and performing swingactions, a trajectory of said guide hoop being positioned on the sameplane and facing the standing space and sloping with its top side facingupwards and forwards; a guide rail slidably mounted on said guide hoop,said guide rail having a long axle parallel to said plane that saidguide hoop is positioned; a slide member slidably mounted on said guiderail; and a training golf club having an end pivotably connected to arear end of said slide member and the other end provided for thegolfer's holding.
 2. The practice device as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid guide hoop angle-adjustably mounted on said base frame.
 3. Thepractice device as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide hoop iselliptical in shape and has a long axle, said long axle having two endscorresponding to left and right ends of said base frame.
 4. The practicedevice as defined in claim 3, wherein said guide rail is connected tosaid guide hoop at an end thereof and is correspondingly positionedinside an ellipse defined by said guide hoop, a position that saidtraining golf club is pivotably connected with said slide memberabutting the ground for a distance when said guide rail slides down to alowest point of said guide hoop.
 5. The practice device as defined inclaim 1, wherein said guide hoop is circular.
 6. The practice device asdefined in claim 1, wherein said guide hoop is elliptical and has a longaxle, said long axle having two ends corresponding to left and rightsides of said base frame, two arched sections being formed at a topbilateral side of said guide hoop, the curvature of said two archedsections being not identical to that of the whole guide hoop, thetrajectory of said guide hoop substantially corresponding to that of agolf club head during a general swing action.
 7. The practice device asdefined in claim 1, wherein said guide hoop has an I-shapedcross-section to form two opposite channels and opposite bilateral sidesrespectively facing forwards and backwards, said guide hoop having afront side connected with said base frame; said guide rail comprises twocrank-like members, said two crank-like members respectively extendinginto said two channels of said guide hoop, each of distal ends of saidcrank-like members being pivotably disposed with a plurality of rollers,said rollers engaging against the peripheries of said channels.
 8. Thepractice device as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide rail has aT-shaped channel extending along the long axle thereof, said T-shapedchannel having an opening facing backwards; said slide member comprisesa head portion received in said T-shaped channel and a body portionextending from said head portion towards outside of said T-shapedchannel, said head portion having a plurality of rollers, said rollersengaging against an inner periphery of said T-shaped channel; saidtraining golf club is pivotably connected to a rear end of said bodyportion.
 9. The practice device as defined in claim 1, wherein said headportion of said slide member is pivotably connected with a connector ata rear end thereof; said training golf club is connected with saidconnector at an end thereof.